Item 1- RMC Draft Amendments to Austin Energy's Resource, Generation, and Climate Protection Plan Schwartz — original pdf

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Amendments by Commissioner Schwartz 1. Incentivize Customer-Sited Batteries — The Commission recommends council ask Austin Energy to develop and provide incentives for customer-sited battery storage to maximize benefits to customers and the electric grid, including adoption of a program that allows all customer classes to receive an incentive for providing the utility access to customer-sited batteries, with program implementation scheduled for no later than October 2025. 2. Income-limited households - The Commission recommends council ask Austin Energy to keep requirements of the 2030 plan for Customer Energy Solutions to target 25% of its customer engagement to be with income-limited households. 3. Lead with Energy Efficiency - The Commission recommends council ask Austin Energy not to decrease the pace of Energy Efficiency improvements. Noting that the last 4 years of reported energy efficiency peak load savings have averaged to 47 MW, the commission recommends to set 47 MW average as a yearly target moving forward. 4. Demand side management 1 percent goal - The Commission recommends council ask Austin Energy to continue to aim to meet at least 1 percent of its load through energy efficiency and demand response programs on an annual basis in the residential sector. The commission recognizes that removing this goal represents a step backward for the utility. 5. Demand Response goals by 2027 - The Commission recommends council ask Austin Energy Austin Energy to expand Demand Response offerings by planning to reach at least 270 MW and up to 470 MW of achieved summer reductions by 2035, including at least an additional 78 MW and up to 102 MW by 2027. This includes customer-sited batteries and managed electric vehicle charging in addition to current demand response programs. Further, Austin Energy will begin moving toward demand response programs that compensate customers for actual contribution to peak load reduction for each event the customer is called on to participate in. 6. Thermal Energy - The Commission recommends council ask Austin Energy to commit to achieving at least 40 MW of local thermal storage by 2030 and at least 50 MWs of local thermal storage by 2035. 7. Grid-scale battery storage - The Commission recommends council ask Austin Energy to commit to installation of at least 125 MW of battery storage by 2027, recognizing that this is in line with modeling of installing both battery and natural gas peakers to meet peak demand. Austin Energy should further commit to studying installation of up to 300 MW of grid- scale battery by 2030. 8. Longer Duration batteries - The Commission recommends council ask Austin Energy to study the usage of longer duration battery technologies and, once the utility has determined that they are economically viable, begin a process to procure these technologies as they are necessary for the utility to meet its future carbon-free goals.